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Vampire
Free Worlds League
Lieutenant Colonel
Joined: 05-Feb-2002 00:00
Posts: 912
Location: Spain
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 Posted: 23-Nov-2002 14:50 Post subject: Gaming review: chess |
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The scary thing is that I can see current youth taking this seriously
Asunto:
FW: [sfconsim-l] Chess Review
Fecha:
Sat, 23 Nov 2002 11:00:55 -0500
De:
"Giorgio"
A:
"Fernando" , Dario Romani
Game Review of Chess
The latest offering in the rapidly overflowing strategy genre is hard evidence that strategy games need a real overhaul, and fast. Chess, a
small-scale tactical turn-based strategy game, attempts to adopt the age-old "easy to learn, difficult to master" parameter made popular by Tetris. But the game's cumbersome play mechanics and superficial depth and detail all
add up to a game that won't keep you busy for long.
Chess casts you as king of a small country at war with a rival country of equivalent military power. There is little background story to speak of, and by and large the units in the game are utterly lacking any character
whatsoever. The faceless, nondescript units are dubbed arbitrarily such labels as "Knight" and "Bishop" while their appearance reveals nothing to suggest these roles. To make matters worse, the units on both playable sides are entirely identical aside from a simple color palette swap.
The setting of the conflict is equally uninspiring and consists merely of a
two-color grid so as to represent the two warring factions. Adding insult to injury, there is only one available map - and it's pathetically small, an 8x8 matrix (Red Alert maps are up to 128x128 in size). The lack of more expansive battlefields makes Chess feel like little more than an over-glorified Minesweeper.
In a definite nod to Tetris, Chess eschews any kind of personality and styling in order to emphasize its supposedly addictive gameplay.
Unfortunately, that gameplay is severely lacking. For one thing, there are only six units in the game. Of those six, two are practically worthless while one is an overpowered "god" unit, the Queen. She's your typical Lara Croft-esque 1990s "me, too" attempt to attract the fabled gaming girl
audience from out of the woodwork to help solidify a customer base for a game that simply cannot sell itself on its own merits. The Queen can attack in any direction and she is balanced solely by the fact that both sides are equally equipped with only one. Otherwise, the functions of the six Chess units feel entirely arbitrary. For instance, Rooks can only move in horizontal lines, unable to attack enemies at diagonal angles; yet Bishops
can move diagonally, but not horizontally.
The result is a frustratingly unrealistic effort at creating balance and strategy where there is, in fact, very little of either element to be found. Inexplicable pathing problems also plague Chess - the irritating Pawns can only move straight ahead, but for some reason or other they attack diagonally. Worst of all, your units are always deployed in exactly the same fashion. While there might have been some strategic element involved in
cleverly deploying one's troops around the undeniably constricted map, the designers saw fit to enforce a "rule" about how the game should be set up.
In the end, Chess matches may often go on for a great length of time because your Pawns always begin in front of your more useful forces, thereby blocking them off.
Only two players can compete simultaneously, thus severely limiting any play life to be found. There is only one gameplay mode - no capture the flag or team play - and that involves the two players taking turns moving their units one by one. The moment a player's King is threatened, that player is placed in a state of "check." At this point, the player must defend his King with whatever means are available. If he cannot defend his King, he is
defeated. Yawn. All units are killed by a single hit, so even a lowly Pawn can be instrumental in defeating an opponent if you plan accordingly. While the artificial balance of forcing equivalent deployment for both sides turns Chess into something of a battle of wits, the turn-based play is poorly
paced and never really picks up speed until halfway through a game, if then.
And half the time, because of the limited troops available (and no resources with which to purchase more), matches end in disappointing stalemates.
This game attempts to accredit itself by virtue of its tactical play mechanics. Yet those mechanics are tedious and difficult to grasp and exacerbate Chess's other numerous failings. In fact, should you actually
memorize all the infuriating little rules governing how the game is played, you'll find yourself growing weary of it all in short order. There's just no payoff to a properly executed game, because the restrictions on the units mean there's a "right" way to play. Thus no real variety can exist between competent players. The sluggish turn-based nature of Chess bogs the package still further and renders this strategy game an irreverent exercise in wasted time for all but the most die-hard turn-based strategy enthusiasts.
It's more than likely that Chess, due to its self-conscious though not entirely elegant simplicity, will garner a small handful of fans. But in light of this game's boundless oversights and limitations, there is no chance it could ever enjoy the sort of success that makes games like Westwood's C&C: Red Alert and Blizzard's Warcraft II the classics they are
to this day.
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Memento audare semper
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CO_17thRecon
Kell Hounds
Major
Joined: 10-Sep-2002 00:00
Posts: 1297
Location: United States
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| Posted: 23-Nov-2002 15:24 Post subject: RE: Gaming review: chess |
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Heh-heh-heh-heh-heh.... 
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Jarylan Blackwell
"What the...?! Where did you get THAT?!"
"Creative aquisition."
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Talen
Capellan Confederation
Sang-shao
Joined: 05-Feb-2002 00:00
Posts: 1269
Location: United States
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| Posted: 23-Nov-2002 16:15 Post subject: RE: Gaming review: chess |
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I have played it...PSX, right?
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"Historians exercise great power and some of them know it. They recreate the past, changing it to fit their own interpretations. Thus, they change the future as well." - Leto II
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Vagabond
Mercenary
Mr. Referee
Joined: 04-Feb-2002 00:00
Posts: 5724
Location: United States
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| Posted: 23-Nov-2002 17:09 Post subject: RE: Gaming review: chess |
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no, i thinks it only on x-box!
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Nightmare
Lyran Alliance
Kommandant-General
Joined: 03-May-2002 00:00
Posts: 2214
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| Posted: 23-Nov-2002 21:27 Post subject: RE: Gaming review: chess |
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Wrong. They published it for PC first.
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A tree fall in the forest, and no one is around, and it hits a mime. Does anyone care?
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CO_17thRecon
Kell Hounds
Major
Joined: 10-Sep-2002 00:00
Posts: 1297
Location: United States
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| Posted: 23-Nov-2002 21:54 Post subject: RE: Gaming review: chess |
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Call me crazy, but I could swear I saw a boardgame with the same name...
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Jarylan Blackwell
"What the...?! Where did you get THAT?!"
"Creative aquisition."
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Talen
Capellan Confederation
Sang-shao
Joined: 05-Feb-2002 00:00
Posts: 1269
Location: United States
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| Posted: 24-Nov-2002 01:41 Post subject: RE: Gaming review: chess |
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Board game? HAHAHA! Funny...now seriously...I thought it was PSX.
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"Historians exercise great power and some of them know it. They recreate the past, changing it to fit their own interpretations. Thus, they change the future as well." - Leto II
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Kyu Kage
ComStar
Captain
Joined: 16-Sep-2002 00:00
Posts: 503
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| Posted: 24-Nov-2002 03:42 Post subject: RE: Gaming review: chess |
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The really scary thing is the realistic approach to the writing!
Makes you forget how old it is!
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Vagabond
Mercenary
Mr. Referee
Joined: 04-Feb-2002 00:00
Posts: 5724
Location: United States
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| Posted: 24-Nov-2002 04:39 Post subject: RE: Gaming review: chess |
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old....
then talen must be right, it musta come out for the ps1.
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one must work hard to cultivate the mind and body. and one must always cultivate the mind.
//^(^_^)^\\
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Talen
Capellan Confederation
Sang-shao
Joined: 05-Feb-2002 00:00
Posts: 1269
Location: United States
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| Posted: 24-Nov-2002 12:47 Post subject: RE: Gaming review: chess |
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It MIGHT have been a Sega Saturn...or maybe even a Sega CD release then...
Those systems are pretty old...and still have the power to push two 16 unit armues...
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"Historians exercise great power and some of them know it. They recreate the past, changing it to fit their own interpretations. Thus, they change the future as well." - Leto II
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Kraken
Federated Suns
Marshal
Joined: 04-Feb-2002 00:00
Posts: 2755
Location: United States
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| Posted: 24-Nov-2002 14:03 Post subject: RE: Gaming review: chess |
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I remember an episode of the 80's cartoon 'Spiral Zone.' In it, a character that was addicted to computer games nearly got brainwashed by a game loaded with subliminal messages. At the end of the episode, he was visited in the hospital by one of the other characters, who gave him a gift. Thinking that it was a computer game (which was out of character for the second guy), he opened it up and nearly fell out of his bed when he saw that it was a chess game. ("You need to work on your strategy" was the line IIRC.)
What's sad is that this is a review that someone might actually write about the game in comparison to all the other games out there now. Makes me wonder what they think of 'Pong' now.
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